4bn people lack internet access as global broadband grows slowly

The United Nation Broadband Commission, Monday disclosed that four billion people globally, especially people living in the developing world lack internet access, just as broadband grows slowly.
The UN, in its 2015 report stated that the new country by country data on state of broadband access worldwide is published by the UN Broadband Commission.
Released just ahead of the forthcoming SDG Summit in New York and the parallel meeting of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development on September 26, the report further revealed that 57% of the world’s people remain offline and unable to take advantage of the enormous economic and social benefits the Internet can offer.
The lowest levels of Internet access, according to the report are mostly found in sub-Saharan Africa, with internet available to less than 2% of the population in Guinea (1.7%), Somalia (1.6%), Burundi (1.4%), Timor Leste (1.1%) and Eritrea (1.0).
New figures in the report confirmed that 3.2 billion people are now connected, up from 2.9 billion last year and equating to 43% of the global population.
But while access to the internet is approaching saturation levels in the developed world, the net, according the study is only accessible to 35% of people in developing countries.
The situation in the 48 UN-designated Least Developed Countries is particularly critical, with over 90% of people without any kind of internet connectivity.
Accordingly, the report showed that the top ten countries for household Internet penetration are all located in Asia or the Middle East.
While the Republic of Korea continues to have the world’s highest household broadband penetration, with 98.5% of homes connected; Qatar (98%) and Saudi Arabia (94%) are ranked second and third respectively.
Iceland, according to the report has the highest percentage of individuals using the Internet (98.2%), just ahead of near-neighbours Norway (96.3%) and Denmark (96%).
Monaco remains very slightly ahead of Switzerland as the world leader in fixed broadband penetration, at over 46.8% of the population compared with the Swiss figure of 46%.
According to the report, there are now six economies including Monaco, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, Liechtenstein and France where fixed broadband penetration exceeds 40%, up from just one (Switzerland) in 2013.
The Asia-Pacific region, the report indicated now accounts for half of all active mobile broadband subscriptions, with Macao, China easily taking top place with 322 active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 people or just over 3 subscriptions per inhabitant followed by second-ranked Singapore (156 subscriptions per 100 people) and Kuwait (140 subscriptions per 100 people).
In total, there are now 79 countries where over 50% of the population is online, up from 77 in 2014. The top ten countries for Internet use are all located in Europe.
With the 17 goals now firmly on the global agenda, governments and private industry both have a strong interest in finding ways to get people online, the report argues, the report added.
“The UN Sustainable Development Goals remind us that we need to measure global development by the number of those being left behind,” ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao, who serves as co-Vice Chair of the Commission with UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova., said, adding that, “The market has done its work connecting the world’s wealthier nations, where a strong business case for network roll-out can easily be made. Our important challenge now is to find ways of getting online the four billion people who still lack the benefits of Internet connectivity, and this will be a primary focus of the Broadband Commission going forward.”
“The 2030 Agenda recognizes the power of new technologies to accelerate human progress, to bridge the digital divide, to develop knowledge societies – we must do everything to support States in reaching these goals, especially developing States,” , the UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, said, adding that, “This calls for stronger efforts by governments and all actors, in ensuring access, use and affordability – it requires also greater work to build the capacities of all women and men to make the most of all new opportunities.”
Produced annually by the Broadband Commission, the State of Broadband is a unique global snapshot of broadband network access and affordability, with country-by country data measuring broadband access against key advocacy targets set by the Commission in 2011.
Broadband Internet, according to the new report is failing to reach those who could benefit most, with Internet access reaching near-saturation in the world’s rich nations but not advancing fast enough to benefit the billions of people living in the developing world.
The State of Broadband 2015 is the fourth edition of the Commission’s broadband connectivity report. Released annually, it is the only report that features country-by-country rankings based on access and affordability for over 160 economies worldwide.
The Broadband Commission comprises more than 50 leaders from across a range of government and industry sectors who are committed to actively assisting countries, UN experts and NGO teams to fully leverage the huge potential of ICTs to drive new national SDG strategies in key areas like education, healthcare and environmental management.